Offshore Trusts Report: British Virgin
Islands

The Trustee (Amendment) Act, 2003

This Act was introduced with a view to making BVI trusts significantly
more attractive in the commercial context, including a new section
(which will only apply if there is a statement to this effect in
the trust instrument) which enables trustees to create various forms
of charges of trust assets in favour of creditors. The legislation
made a substantial number of other amendments to the Trustee Act,
including the following:

The Act repeals section 83 of the Trustee Act and replaces
it with a new set of conflict of laws rules relating to trusts.
The new section contains robust, comprehensive and carefully
crafted provisions protecting BVI trusts (and dispositions
to their trustees) against “forced heirship” claims,
which also prevent foreign judgments based on such forced
heirship claims from being recognised or enforced in the Territory.

The BVI’s purpose trusts legislation has been comprehensively
overhauled in the light of amendments which have been made
to other offshore jurisdictions’ legislation, various
commentaries which have been written by experts and some issues
which have arisen in practice since this legislation was originally
introduced.

Section 92 of the Trustee Act, which deals with the payment
of trust duty has been replaced by a comprehensive new section
which makes it clear what documents are subject to trust duty
and how this must be paid.

Trusts which are exclusively charitable are now exempted
from trust duty; but the section included a modest increase
in duty from $50 to $100.

The Act includes a number of further sections dealing with
charities, variation of trusts, illusory appointments, the
power to compromise claims, flee clauses and the jurisdiction
of the BVI’s courts.

The Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2003 abolishes the
requirement that deeds executed by individuals need to be sealed.

British Virgin Islands News

BVI To Review Taxes And FeesMonday 15/3/2010British Virgin Islands Prime Minister, Ralph O’Neal has said that the territory
will run a budget surplus during 2010, although the government still intends to review indirect taxes and fees on financial services.

Caribbean Explores Fiscal CooperationTuesday 9/3/2010Ahead of the World Bank meeting, to be held on March 11-12, where CARICOM Finance
Ministers will meet to discuss challenges that the region faces, CARICOM Secretary
General, Edwin Carrington said it was vital for Caribbean economies to increase economic cooperation and remove fiscal barriers, for the prosperity of the region going forward.

OECD Reports On Its Progress With International Tax StandardsWednesday 20/1/2010According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the focus of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information is now shifting – from commitments and agreements to achieving an effective implementation of the standards.

UK's Wealthy Head For Sunnier Climes As Tax Storm BrewsWednesday 16/12/2009New research would appear to confirm that, while not quite the 'exodus' popularly characterized in the press, there is nevertheless a steady stream of wealthy financiers, entrepreneurs and bankers leaving Britain as a result of the Labour government's recent tax increases.

BVI Signs TIEAs With China And IrelandWednesday 9/12/2009The government of the British Virgin Islands took a further step on December 7
to conclude Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development model Tax Information Exchange Agreements, signing texts with Ireland and China.

Crown Dependencies Welcome Foot Report FindingsMonday 2/11/2009The British Crown Dependencies have welcomed the findings of the UK government's review
of the dependencies, published on October 29, which recognizes their economic benefit to the United Kingdom, and efforts to achieve compliance with international
standards.

BVI Makes OECD White ListMonday 17/8/2009The British Virgin Islands has signed its 12th Tax Information Exchange Agreement after concluding an agreement with New Zealand, meaning that the jurisdiction is now considered to be "substantially" in compliance with the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development's tax snoopers' standard.

BVI Signs OECD Model Agreements With Nordic StatesWednesday 20/5/2009The British Virgin Islands government announced this week the signing of bilateral
tax information exchange agreements with the six Nordic countries, the Faroe Islands,
Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden at the Icelandic Embassy in Copenhagen,
Denmark, on May 18.

The Offshore Trusts Guide Newsletter

Follow us

Other Network Sites

Important Notice:
Wolters Kluwer TAA Limited has taken reasonable care in sourcing and presenting the information contained on this site, but accepts no responsibility for any financial or other loss or damage that may result from its use. In particular, users of the site are advised to take appropriate professional advice before committing themselves to involvement in offshore jurisdictions, offshore trusts or offshore investments.